


black gloaming

by loosingletters



Series: Fractures of Luminescence [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: First Meetings, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Infanticide, Pre-Relationship, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:34:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29683362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loosingletters/pseuds/loosingletters
Summary: "Shmi Skywalker, meet Sahki Tano and her daughter Ahsoka."A few weeks after her son left Tatooine, Old Jira asks Shmi if she could take in two newly-captured slaves.(Or, the one where Shmi Skywalker gets a wife and a daughter.)
Relationships: Ahsoka Tano's Mother & Ahsoka Tano, Shmi Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano's Mother, Shmi Skywalker & Jira (Star Wars)
Series: Fractures of Luminescence [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2181270
Comments: 14
Kudos: 105
Collections: New SW Canon Server Works





	black gloaming

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I'm so hyped to present you this first one shot in this amazing collab series!!! Em and I decided that Shmi Skywalker deserves a wife and oh, boy, isn't it convenient that in another life, 3 y/o Ahsoka Tano was nearly abducted before Plo found her?

It was late in the slave quarters and Shmi supposed that her steadily longer growing days were the reason Old Jira sought her out. Ever since Anakin had left – with the Jedi, free to do as he pleased for the rest of his life – Watto’s shop hadn’t been doing too well. He had lost a tremendous amount of money during Boonta Eve and needed all the help he could get to save himself from bankruptcy. The only fortune Shmi could count was the fact that he hadn’t sold her yet. She knew she was quite valuable due to her ability to cook and repair just about everything. It wasn’t the kind of quick and easy money a pleasure slave might bring, but the market for her skills was wide enough, especially if Watto decided to deal with pirates.

The thought of being sold to some off-worlders made Shmi’s body feel even heavier. Despite everything, she didn’t want to leave Tatooine. Perhaps it was foolish and selfish, but when the day’s work became almost overwhelming, she thought of Anakin, grown taller than her, his hair still as golden as the sun, finding her again.

She didn’t want to travel to a galaxy too far and wide for one boy to scout.

But for now, that meant working longer hours and ensuring Watto saw her as more valuable as his slave than as another good to sell.

Shmi had been home barely ten minutes when Old Jira had shown up on her door.

Shmi studied Jira quietly. She looked even more exhausted than usual, which was never a good sign. Old Jira could survive everything, or so they teased around the night fires. Seeing her usually so steadfast resolution stagger was frightening. If Jira looked worried, they had bad times ahead of them or another unfortunate victim to look after.

“Long nights, Shmi,” Jira greeted her.

“Safe travels in the dark,” Shmi returned and, not wasting another moment, went straight to the point. “How can I help you?”

Slaves had so very little time, they didn’t linger for long.

“We have two new arrivals. A mother and her young daughter. They’re in need of shelter.”

It seemed like this night was intent on showering Shmi with surprises. Masters usually didn’t send their slaves to the quarters unless they had property here. Shmi thought back on the day, tried to recall if Watto had said anything about loaning out this small place, but he hadn't.

“Who are they?”

“They were captured near Shili,” Jira said. “Two togruta. The mother is pretty and apparently was something of a healer back on her world. The daughter is hardly three.”

There were a lot of things Jira didn’t say. Words she needn’t share because Shmi could draw her own conclusions. The mother and her daughter had been free people, were likely still holding onto that spirit. They’d need guidance, a patient hand. As a healer, the mother was valuable to their community. Perhaps, as a person so used to being only regarded by her value, Shmi should be saddened that her first thought was of the mother’s usefulness, but they had lost so many people to their Masters’ rages lately.

As for her looks, if she truly was pretty, then her new Master was bound to make use of them. Shmi’s time as a pleasure slave was long gone, but she had birthed children, smothered them, watched them be torn away from her.

It wasn’t wrong of Jira to come to her, but Shmi still suspected another reason. There were plenty of people more well-suited to take in newcomers. Especially among the many pleasure slaves who tended to live together, their children running errands at the brothel as the young daughter would soon be expected to.

They certainly had the space for it too. Many people had been sold after the festivities. The slave quarters were always in the most disarray after the games the Hutts arranged.

“What else is there?” Shmi asked.

Jira glanced outside as if expecting an enemy here, then her gaze drifted back inside Shmi’s home, into the direction of Anakin’s old room. Shmi had been using it as her bedroom now. She hadn’t had her own space in years; it was a novel experience to sleep on her own, though Shmi couldn’t claim she enjoyed it. 

“The daughter, she is  _ special _ ,” Jira said slowly. “She’s just little Ani was, only not as powerful, not by far, I would say. They tested her properly and there were whispers of the Jedi.”

Anakin had never been tested. Watto hadn’t quite believed in what Shmi now knew to be the Force. It wasn’t unsurprising given that his species wasn’t susceptible to the powers of the Jedi, and Shmi was thankful for it. Had Watto seen it fit to test Anakin, she wouldn’t have kept her child.

“The girl is going to be trained up as a fighter, but first, she needs someone to teach her the kind of control you taught Anakin. Her mother doesn’t know how to handle her, and I mentioned you. You are under no obligation, of course.”

But how could Shmi refuse them?

“Bring them here,” Shmi told Jira. “I’ll help as much as I can.”

Jira nodded thankfully and disappeared into the dark again. If they were new, the mother and daughter couldn’t be too far away. Shmi sighed and tiredly went about making her home a little more presentable. Shmi always kept it orderly, force of habit when you had a child around, but she had allowed herself to slack as work has gotten more exhausting. She cracked her tired joints and scraped together a bit of her last meal.

Hardly fifteen minutes later, Jira returned with a tall woman and a girl in tow. The woman looked better than Shmi expected. New slaves tended to be injured from various  _ lessons _ meant to teach them their place. Eyeing the small child in the woman’s arms, Shmi supposed that hadn’t been necessary.

“Shmi Skywalker, meet Sahki Tano and her daughter Ahsoka,” Jira introduced them.

Shmi smiled kingly, hoping her honesty would reflect despite how exhausted she must look. The other woman returned the smile only hesitantly but earnestly. They hadn’t broken her yet. That was a good sign if Shmi had ever seen one.

“Please, come in. Make yourself comfortable,” Shmi offered.

Sahki wasn’t too quick to accept the offer, glancing at Jira first, but when she nodded, she sat down at the kitchen table. Her daughter was fast asleep, snoring slightly. She was adorable and reminded Shmi of Anakin and how he had slept through most of the transport to Tatooine.

“You have a cute child,” Shmi said. Among slaves, children were usually the safest topic of conversation. No matter their origin, children were well-protected and well-loved.

“Thank you,” Sahki replied. “She turned three just a few weeks ago.”

“Six years younger than my Ani then,” Shmi mused. Anakin would have loved this situation. Having another child around who understood what it meant when the world got too loud to bear, being able to teach them… Luckily, he had always been fond of the younger kids in the quarters. As one of the older children, he had to help look after the younger ones quite often.

He had never complained once.

“Is Ani your child?” Sahki asked and looked around as if expecting a human child to come running.

“Yes,” Shmi replied. “His full name is Anakin. He was recently freed by the Jedi and left with them.”

“Jedi,” Sahki repeated, voice full of profound awe and even deeper dread. “The Jedi supposed to come to Shili too.”

Shmi’s heart broke at seeing how defeated and hopeful the other woman looked. The Jedi wouldn’t return to Tatooine. It was a miracle they had landed on this planet in the first place. Sahki, as new to the trade as she was, appeared to know so too, as she did not comment on them further but changed the topic.

“Ahsoka, she can do strange things, sometimes,” Sahki said. “Jira told me you could help with that. I don’t understand it. I can’t copy it and I know what my new Master intends to do with her when she’s old enough and I can’t let them hurt my baby.”

Sahki’s shoulders began to tremble.

Jira stepped forward, but Shmi was quicker. She gently put her hands on Sahki’s cheeks, tipped her head upwards, forcing her not to look at her child, the source of her current and future grief. There were times you had to look down and watch your child so you remembered your foundations and why you had to keep standing. However, Shmi had long since learned that there were also moments you had to look up at the sky to recall that the galaxy was larger than your prison.

“All will be as well as we can make it,” Shmi promised. “Tears are not shed easily here and you have cried plenty already. Have you eaten yet?”

Food was always a good distraction.

Shmi quickly took her leftovers and gave them to Sahki. “It is not particularly well-seasoned. But it keeps your stomach full. Has your daughter eaten yet?”

Sahki shook her head. “No, should I wake her?”

“No,” Shmi said. “The hunger can’t find us while we sleep and Ahsoka will need all the rest she can get here.”

“Thank you,” Sahki said, one hand clutching the cutlery tightly. “For your kindness. You don’t have to.”

“I know.” Shmi smiled. “But the world is a little better if everyone helps each other.”

They fell into a comfortable silence with Sahki eating. Jira stayed a little while longer, then she nodded and bid them good night.

As Sahki ate, Shmi told her random tidbits about herself. She spoke of Anakin and how smart he was, the work she did for Watto, her hobbies, as few as she had, and kept the one-sided conversation going.

After the late dinner, Shmi led Sahki to Anakin’s old room. This place would soon not be haunted by Anakin’s ghost anymore but belong to the new arrivals. The mattress was so thin that only one person really fit on there anyway. Sleeping there with anyone taller than a toddler didn’t do your back any favors.

“It is your bed,” Sahki protested lightly as to avoid waking Ahsoka. “I will not steal your bed in your home.”

Shmi only shook her head. “It is your home now as well and I am not too attached to it. I have slept on a futon for six years; I can do so for much longer. You’ll need this good night’s rest.”

Reluctantly, Sahki accepted the offer. It didn’t take long for sleep to claim her once her head hit her mattress. With her daughter curled up in her arms, Sahki Tano fell asleep.

Shmi watched over the two of them until she thought the sight of them in her home was familiar enough that she could accept it for months or even years. Then, sighing, she reached for her own bedding.

Tomorrow would come with more change than Shmi could possibly anticipate. She needed the rest just as much as them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> I'd love to hear what you think!


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